SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTO BY AL STILLEY Howdy Bell says calling the Indianapolis 500 from Turn 2 is the scariest place to do so.

By Al StilleySenior staff writer

Radio announcer Howdy Bell will be trackside Sunday for his 55th consecutive Indianapolis 500.

A popular Southsider, Bell has lived west of Greenwood since 1984. He called his first 500 as a rookie on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, which was headed by the voice of Sid Collins.

For 41 years Bell called from Turn 2, the pits and later from the booth by giving listeners valuable rundowns of the positions of all drivers at certain segments.

“We are so blessed to be a part of this event,” Bell said last week in the IMS Media Center. “It has been a wonderful experience. It just draws you to it. As I look back on my career it seems somewhat amazing that I was studying at Butler to be a pharmacist and I’ve been a part of this event for 55 years running.”

Bell’s path to the 500 probably would not have happened had he not switched from majoring in pharmacy to broadcasting at Butler, where classes were taught there by the late Tom Carnegie, the revered voice of the 500. The Butler connection at the Speedway in the 1960s was strong.

Bell had moved from WSVL-AM in Shelbyville to WIBC-AM to replace morning show co-host Mike Ahern, who was on leave for six months of military duty in 1962. Radio network anchor Sid Collins called upon Bell also to take Ahern’s place on the 500 broadcast team.

He was originally stationed off Turn 2 before the suites were built. Seeking a more comfortable vantage point atop the suites, Collins was first refused permission by grounds superintendent Clarence Cagle but was then given the OK by IMS President Tony Hulman to broadcast from atop the building.

Bell’s only fear came during threatening weather because the platform was near two high flag poles.

Bell moved into the main broadcast booth after Bob Jenkins took over for Lou Palmer to do the race rundowns. He also called the 500 from the infield hospital and the pits.

Turn 2 remains as his favorite, but it’s the most scary place to call the race.

“Graham Hill, driving the wedge-shaped turbine, spun and came to within 6 to 8 feet of our location behind the wall,” recalled Bell, who also had a great but terrifying view of Tom Sneva’s horrendous race day crash in 1975 after going atop Eldon Rasmussen’s car.

“The car broke in half and Sneva’s seat had been pushed forward. I thought he was going to fry, but he climbed from the car. His crash was a testimony to all the safety that was built into the race cars then.”

Bell also remembers the 1964 race and the fiery front-stretch tragedy that took the lives of Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald.

“We went off the air for two hours while they cleaned up the track,” Bell said. “Sid’s obituary was eloquent in remembering Eddie. He was very close to Eddie, but he had nothing prepared ahead of time.”

Bell is familiar to Southsiders and has been a guest speaker on many occasions to talk about the Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Indians and exploring why people say the things they do.

He is a layman volunteer car pastor through Vineyard Church in Greenwood and has officiated at weddings and funerals.

As a teen Bell worked at his family’s drugstore at 13th and Illinois streets. He graduated from Shortridge High School and became more interested in auto racing. He later sold peanuts at the track in 1952 and made $3 for the entire day.​He has four children and eight grandchildren. Three of his children are Center Grove High School graduates.For the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, Bell will be in the Media Center as a standby for the radio broadcast.

When Ann (Lawrie) James was crowned the first 500 Festival queen in 1959, she knew it would be a thrilling experience. Little did she know that she would meet her future husband in all the pageantry.

“I met Dick in 1959, and we had our first date in 1960,” said James, who was also crowned Miss Garfield Park. “We were married Sept. 10, 1960.”

Ann, who graduated from Sacred Heart High School and attended St. Vincent School of Nursing, recalls being ushered everywhere to make appearances in promoting the Indianapolis 500. “I met a lot of people; it was a very interesting time. I loved everything about it.”

Because her husband was a salesman with the National Paper Co., the couple moved 17 times. While calling Charleston, W. Va., home from 1962-65, Ann hosted a morning television show.

“I remember interviewing former President Harry Truman and asking him if he thought a women would ever be elected president. “He replied, ‘God, I hope not.’ ”

The Jameses’ youngest of three sons was born on race day in 1964.

Ann continued to follow the race throughout the years, and race day in 2008 will forever be etched in her mind – it was the day her husband died. “He passed in my arms and said, ‘I will love you forever.’ ”

A week after her husband’s death, Ann asked him for some kind of sign that he was OK. Later that day three buds burst open on a gardenia at the couple’s home. Ann reasoned that it was a sign of their three sons. In 2011 Ann flew all of her children and grandchildren into Indianapolis for the race. “There was nothing like watching the grandchildren’s faces as they saw the start of the race for the first time. It sent chills up my spine,” said Ann via the telephone from her McKinney, Texas, home Saturday morning.

Ann has put in a request to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that her ashes be spread there with her husband’s after she dies. She is awaiting a response.

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will always have a special place in my heart, as will Indianapolis.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO This gardenia bloomed after Ann (Lawrie) James asked for a sign that her recently deceased husband was OK.